Alela Diane

Composer, guitarist and performer of indie folk, Alela Diane was born in Nevada City, California, on April 20, 1983. She began by singing in the school choir and taught herself to play guitar. After an initiatory stay in San Francisco, she composed her first songs, and in 2003 produced a demo entitled Forest Parade. Invited to perform on stage by Joanna Newsom - a native of the same city - Alela Diane played her songs in clubs and briefly joined a local band called Black Bear. On her return from a trip to Europe, she recorded the material for her album The Pirate's Gospel in her father Tom Menig's studio, the first home-made pressing of which was released in 2004. Its reissue by independent label Holocene Music two years later attracted critical attention and distribution in Europe, while the singer released the Songs Whistled Through White Teeth EP. After touring on both sides of the Atlantic and contributing to the Headless Heroes collective album, The Silence of Love (2008), Alela Diane set about recording the album To Be Still (2009), released by Rough Trade, as well as the follow-up Alela Diane & the Wild Divine (2011), conceived as a group in reaction to the overly intimate climate of the previous album and ranked #158 in the UK. The line-up now includes her father and first husband Tom Bevitori. Following a tour supporting Fleet Foxes, the folk artist, whose track "Take Us Back" was chosen for The Walking Dead video game and "The Light" for the series of the same name, unveiled the 2013 album About Farewell (No. 31 in France), then collaborated with Ryan Francesconi on the follow-up Cold Moon (2015). In 2019, her successor Cusp is also charting in several European countries (No. 106 in France), where Alela Diane is better known than in her own country. The following year, she formed a trio with violinist Mirabai Peart and cellist Heather Woods Broderick, sister of composer Peter Broderick. This folk chamber ensemble produced the live album Live at the Map Room (2021). Back on her own, the Portland, Oregon-based singer released Looking Glass in 2022, which reached No. 97 in France. After an album of Christmas songs with The Hackles, It's Always Christmas Somewhere (2023), Alela Diane returns with new tracks for Who's Keeping Time? (2026).